Qualifier Dominic Stricker, a 21-year-old Swiss player ranked No. 128 in the world, rallied from a set down to knock off seventh-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas on Wednesday in a four-hour match at the U.S. Open in New York.
Stricker advanced to the third round with a 7-5, 6-7 (2), 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-3 marathon win over Tsitsipas in 4 hours, 4 minutes.
Stricker survived 22 aces by Tsitsipas. He converted 6 of 13 break point opportunities, stroked 79 winners against 40 unforced errors.
“I came out today pretty well. I felt good from the first set on. It was a tough battle but I am just super happy right now,” Stricker said. “I am going to enjoy the rest of the day and then I will recover for the next round.
“Such a great day for me, such a great win,” Stricker added. “It gives me a lot of confidence and I think it is great to see from my team. We are working hard everyday and it is so great to do that.”
Tsitsipas lost despite winning 81 percent of his first serves. He posted 71 winners against 42 unforced errors, including six double faults.
Stricker next faces France’s Benjamin Bonzi, a 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7) upset winner of 28th-seeded American Christopher Eubanks.
Later in the night, the 2022 Open runner-up fell as China’s Zhizhen Zhang knocked off No. 5 Casper Ruud of Norway, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 0-6, 6-2. Zhang, 26, earned the first win by a Chinese man over a top-five opponent since the ATP rankings began in 1973.
In his U.S. Open debut last year, Zhang squandered seven match points in a five-set loss to the Netherlands’ Tim van Rijthoven.
Zhang said Wednesday, “Last year at the U.S. Open, I can say it was a bad memory. But this year is a little bit different.”
Zhang, who held an 18-7 advantage in aces and had 60 winners, will face Rinky Hijikata of Australia in the third round.
Second-seeded Novak Djokovic cruised into the third round with a 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 win over Bernabe Zapata Miralles in 1 hour, 59 minutes.
Two seeded Americans had no trouble in their second-round matchups. No. 9 Taylor Fritz cruised past Peru’s Juan Pablo Varillas 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, and No. 10 Frances Tiafoe downed Austria’s Sebastian Ofner 6-3, 6-1, 6-4.
Other ranked winners were 14th-seeded American Tommy Paul — a five-set winner over Russian Roman Safiullin — No. 21 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, No. 22 Adrian Mannarino of France and No. 32 Laslo Djere of Serbia.
Also, Croatia’s Borna Gojo defeated the United States’ Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in second-round action.
–Field Level Media
